Syllabus

This course will focus on both the historical and cultural development of fashion, clothing and consumption in East Asia, with a special focus on China and Japan. Using a variety of sources, from fiction to art, from legal codes to advertisements, we will study both actual garments created and worn in society throughout history, as well as the ways in which they inform the social characterization of class, ethnicity, nationality, and gender attributed to fashion. Among the topics we will analyze in this sense will be hair-style, foot-binding and, in a deeper sense, bodily practices that inform most fashion-related discourses in East Asia. We will also think through the issue of fashion consumption as an often-contested site of modernity, especially in relationship to the issue of globalization and world-market. Thus we will also include a discussion of international fashion designers, along with analysis of phenomena such as sweat-shops. Limited to 25 students.

Attendance and participation I expect you to have completed the reading assignments before coming to class. Attendance and class participation are essential. The course will combine lecture and discussion and part of the final grade will be based on your participation, which involves presence, preparation of readings, and contributions towards classroom discussion. Late arrivals will be noted - three late arrivals count as one absence. You are allowed two absences, absences above and beyond that need to be explained in order to avoid an impact on the grade.

Papers, deadlines and assignments

a) Discussion teams. Depending on the size of the class, I will create small groups (3-4 persons maximum) and will assign you a date and a topic for which you and your classmates will be responsible for leading the discussion and analyzing the material for the date assigned. Where possible, you will also be expected to find new and interesting material related to the issue/s under study.

b) Screening journal. The screening journal will consist of entries you will make for each movie assigned. Entries need not be long and elaborate, as long as they convey your thoughts and ideas. These entries can serve as a place to respond to class discussion and reading assignments, as well as to express any ideas, thoughts or feelings prompted by the movie. I will read the journal regularly to respond and as much as possible incorporate your ideas and reactions. The grade on journal entries is indicative of the effort you put in the class, not of the quality of your comments and insights: missed entries will negatively affect your grade, while entries that consistently reflect a lot of thought and engagement will boost your grade. Journal entries are due on the Monday following the screening (almost all screenings are meant to be done during your weekend—but this is at your discretion—the movies are assigned to you for the following week, unless otherwise noted in your syllabus), by 11,30, and can be submitted in person or by putting them Blackboard digital drop-box.

c) Assignments. Various assignments, such as creating your own pillow book, keeping a clothing journal, will be given throughout the semester. Assignments will be emailed to you, along with due dates and precise guidelines, or handed out in class. They will also be regularly posted on the Blackboard course website.

d) Final project. You will be expected to submit a project by the end of the semester. The project should be original, and respond a major theme or issue in the course. It could be collaborative (which of course will have an impact on the length of the project) and you will need to give a presentation in class about your work in progress before the end of the semester. There will be NO EXTENSIONS and your project will be marked down 10 % for each day it is late. Your final project is due May 15th by noon. You can submit your paper via the Blackboard site, in the digital drop-box, or in hard copy, by 11,30 AM.

Please note that additional assignments, including movie screenings, may be added to the schedule. Check the Blackboard site for updates and announcements.

The final grade will be based on the following criteria: attendance and participation, 50%; essays and assignments, 50%.

Office Hours W 3-5 and by appointment 106 Webster Email: pzamperini@amherst.edu Tel.: 5424483 You are welcome and (really) encouraged to come and speak with me during office hours. This is important time to discuss more extensively the texts we are studying, the ideas we are exploring, or anything else related to the class. I strongly urge you to talk with me about difficulties you may experience with course related material and to make suggestions, so that we can all benefit from each other’s insights and comments. If you are unable to come to the scheduled office hours, we can set an appointment.

Required texts and course readers The course packet (2 volumes, one ready and available now and the next on date to be announced) is available at the Asian Languages and Civilizations office in Webster 110. The following texts are available at the Jeffrey Amherst College Store, 26 South Prospect St., Amherst. Please use only these editions, as all page numbers in your syllabus refers to them. Please note that additional texts may be added later on in the semester.

Rivoli, Pietra, The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy. An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade, Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

Sei Sh¯onagon, The Pillow Book of Sei Sh¯onagon, translated and edited by Ivan Morris. New York : Columbia University Press, 1991.

Movies With the exceptions noted below in your syllabus, all movies will be available for your viewing pleasure as streaming videos that you can access from any computer connected to the Amherst-network via Ethernet cable. Please refer to this link for more information on how to access streaming videos: https://sysaccount.amherst.edu/sysaccount/CourseAccessClass discussion will often center on the movies, so all viewings are compulsory. Additional movie screenings may be added.

Suggested movies: These movies will be on reserve in the Frost Library for your viewing pleasure, to complement some of the issues we will discuss in class throughout the semester.

In the Mood For Love Life and debt The World of Suzie Wong Memoirs of a Geisha My Geisha M. Butterfly Love and Pop Unzipped Flowers of Shanghai Shijuku boys (on order) Paris Is Burning (on order) The Worlds of Mei Lanfang (on order)

Schedule and reading assignments

Week 1 1/28 Introduction to the course. The Real Me. Or: What’s Up with Clothes?

Week 6 Wearing Ideology 3/3 Men of the Cloth and Q’s Blues Readings John Kieschnick, The Monk’s Robe, 86-107; The Rosary, 116-138, in The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture; Karen Lang, “Shaven Heads and loose Hair. Buddhist Attitudes toward Hair and Sexuality,” in Off with Her Head! The Denial of Women’s Identity in Myth, Religion and Culture, 31-52; Philip Kuhn, Soulstealers. The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768, 49-59; Weikun Cheng, “Politics of the Queue: Agitation and Resistance in the beginning and End of Qing China,” 123-142, in Hair. Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures, in Reader.

3/5 Dressed to Kill, Rule and Learn Readings Antonia Finnane, Chapter 4, Soldiers and Citizens,79-81, in Changing Clothes in China, required text; Antonia Finnane, “Military Culture and Chinese Dress in Early Twentieth Century”, in China Chic; 119-131; Brian McVeigh, Wearing Ideology. State, Schooling and Self-presentation in Japan, 19-55; 62-102; Verity Wilson, “Dressing for Leadership in China: Wives and Husbands in an Age of Revolutions (1911-1976),” in Material Strategies, 238-258; Wearing Propaganda. Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 157-203, in Reader.